A Conversation With 2 Jehovah's Witnesses

I arrived at Dover Center and Lorain around 3:30 yesterday. I soon handed out two tracts to two teenagers, and one told me she had seen the same tract at work and tons of them! She works at a local fast food burger restaurant.

Around 4:15, I saw two women across the street from me. They crossed in the cross walk and came over to talk to me.

I gave her a tract and asked her if she knew what was going to happen when she dies. She said, "Yea, I do, as a matter of fact. What do you think?" She then started reading the tract aloud:

"Will you go to Heaven when you die? Here's a quick test. Have you ever told a lie, stolen anything, or used God's name in vain? Jesus said, "Whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart." Have you looked with lust? Will you be guilty on Judgment Day? If you have done those things, God sees you as a lying, thieving, blasphemous adulterer at heart. The Bible warns that if you are guilty you will end up in Hell."

She then stops, and says "Ohhh... I see. What church are you affiliated with?"

I told her I don't do this as a part of my church, but that I do go to a church in Rocky River and that I do this on my own.

"Oh, well it shows that you have a zeal, and that's good. Not many young people today have that zeal for God. Where do you derive your zeal from? What makes you want to do this?"

At this point I started tripping up over my words a little, talking about Living Waters and the Way of the Master course, but I quickly went back into the law. I told her that God sees us as lying, thieving, blaspheming, adulterer and murderer in the heart, and you are going to face God on Judgment Day. Based on that, would He find you innocent or guilty?

Completely ignoring the question, she says, "I was looking at your Scripture that is on there- Mark 1:15."

I quoted the verse: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel."

"We are Bible students, actually, and this is why we came across the street, because we wanted to talk with you."

She continues, "Mark 1:15, 'The appointed time has been fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has drawn near. Repent, YOU people, and have faith in the good news."

Ok, I think, it's not exactly the ESV, but I figure it's close. I explained that so many people that are Christians who just profess to be Christians and not repent.

She explained that "repentance means that you feel sorry for the wrong that you've done and that conversion turning away from it and not doing it anymore. Absolutely, we believe in that truth."

I explained the parachute analogy. At this point, everything seems good. She says, "It talks about something interesting- it says that 'the kingdom of God has drawn near.' Have you ever wondered what that 'kingdom of God' is?"

I state that it says it has drawn near. It hasn't come yet. I told her that when I look at the verb tense, it says that "has drawn near," which tells me it's close, but it isn't here. I told her that we are in the end times and we are waiting for Jesus to return- it's just a matter of when.

"Yes, this kingdom that it talks about here in Mark, that has drawn near- Jesus taught His disciples to pray for that very kingdom. Something you pray for probably. 'You must pray that then this way: Our father in Heaven, that your Name may be sanctified. That your kingdom come.' Jesus says when we pray this prayer, it was for conditions in Heaven to be on the Earth. 'Let your kingdom come, that your will be done, on Earth, as it is in Heaven.' So, from the study of the Bible- and there's another Scripture in Daniel 2:44 that talks about the government. There is a prophecy in Daniel about the end times and it talks about this image of gold that Nebuchadnez´zar saw, and it tells you in Daniel 9, it represented all the governments of the time from the world powers of Egypt and Syria, all the way down to our day- and so that kingdom, that the Bible talks about is a government in itself..."

"Daniel 2:44: 'And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be brought to ruin. And the kingdom itself will not be passed on to any other people. It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, and it itself will stand to times indefinite.' So it talks about that kingdom of government of God that will put an end to all human governments. When you pray the Lord's prayer, that's what you pray for."

This went on a little more and she said she wanted to come over and share with me. We talked a little more and I asked her what version of the Bible she had- because all of the previously quoted Scripture didn't seem right. "New World Translation. It is the most accurate translation of the Bible."

I ask, "Are you guys Jehovah's Witnesses?"

"We are Jehovah's Witnesses. Have you ever talked to Jehovah's Witnesses before?"

I say, "No, I have not." Not in depth anyways.

She said, "People say JW's have their own Bible, but if you go to Google and type in 'What is the most accurate translation of the Bible.,' it will bring up the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures. It's actual fact. It's not the JW's have their own Bible, but it's because we put back the name of God the way it was meant to be in its original text." That doesn't mean anything. If I titled this blog post "Pigs Can Fly," it also would come up in Google eventually. That doesn't make it true.

I ask, "OK, let me ask you- what must I do to get to heaven, from your perspective?"

"Well, I won't tell you what- first of all, I can't tell you whether or not you go to Heaven or you will be here on Earth."

I say, "I can tell you exactly what you need to do to get to Heaven."

I also asked, "If I had 3 minutes to live, what would you tell me?" They hesitated and couldn't provide an answer.

I told them, "I can tell you exactly what you need to do. You need to repent of your sins, turn away from your sins, and place your trust in Jesus Christ alone for your salvation."

Our conversation went into other things, also- about working out endurance and about how faith without works is dead. I told them that our works are done in gratitude to what Jesus has done for us. I told them how Scripture says our works are nothing but filthy rags in the sight of God. There is nothing I could possibly do to add to Jesus' sacrifice on the cross.

At this point, I made sure to read my version of the Bible whenever Scripture was quoted- not to rely on the New World Translation.

I kept going back to my 3 minutes to live question, telling them they need to repent of their sins and place their trust in Jesus. I said, "If someone gets in a car wreck here, I could run out and say, 'Please, repent of your sins and place your trust in Jesus Christ.'"

She said, "OK, how does he repent of his sins 3 minutes before he dies?" I told them that he turns away from his sin and apologizes to God. Granted, there won't be the rest of his lifetime to see if that repentance is true- that's why waiting to the last minute to repent is so dangerous- it may not me true repentance and faith.

We also got into a brief discussion about the Trinity. She told me Jesus grew up as a man and He went to John the Baptist to be baptized. When He was being baptized, the Heavens opened up, the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove came down upon Him, and a voice was heard from Heaven, saying, "This is my Son."

She asked if Jesus was part of the Trinity, it would mean that God was presenting Himself to be baptized, God was speaking from the Heavens, and God was appearing the form of a dove on Jesus, all at the same time, and Jesus would be deceiving everyone around Him, because He would be saying that He is the Son of God, but He was actually God. How could God be poured out on Him and also His voice be heard from Heaven? I told her this isn't something I understand and I won't ever understand. She left me with a booklet that says, "Should You Believe in the Trinity?"

She said, "If I see you out here again another day, I'll stop by. Take a look at this and tell me what you think."

I told her, "I can tell you right now, I'm not budging."

She said, "You seem like a guy with an open mind." I may have let her speak her mind out of courtesy, but that doesn't mean that I am open to her beliefs. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father expect through Me." That doesn't leave any negotiating room.

She encouraged me to go online and look up some of things she gave me. I told her I didn't need to- I told her I have the truth- Jesus. At this point she realized she wasn't getting anywhere. I told her I have the truth- His name is Jesus Christ. I told her, "I know what is right- and you're not."

She said, "I respect your belief. I do respect your belief."

I told her, "It's not what you believe, it's what's true."

I don't know if I handled this conversation the best way, but at least I prevented 2 Jehovah's Witnesses going door to door for at least 30 minutes and brain washing someone who doesn't have a firm foundation.